"He [Yameen] will not have people around him who will support him to fight on and stay", Nasheed said.

India and China, jostling for influence in the Indian Ocean, had been watching the election closely.

The opposition had feared the election would be rigged in favor of Maldives' strongman President Yameen Abdul Gayoom, whose first term in office was marked by a crackdown on political rivals, courts and the media.

During the election campaign, Yameen had presented himself as a Maldivian nationalist focused on economic development, pointing to infrastructure projects built during his term, including a 2km bridge linking Male to the global airport that opened earlier this month. He had all the power - the judiciary, the police, the security forces under him.

Iran says U.S. ally behind military parade attack
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE view Iran as a regional menace and have long accused it of meddling in other countries' affairs. Arab separatists groups have operated in the region for years, according to the New York Times .

Two wind warnings in place
The Amber wind warning was set in place between 8am this morning, and will continue until 6pm tonight, Wednesday, September 19. Posting on social media, the Hill Head Coastguard Rescue Team tweeted: 'With strong winds and heavy seas please take care.

The national electoral commission has not yet announced official results.

The chief of the Maldives election commission said the final result would be declared within seven days, as mandated by law. "We heartily congratulate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on his victory and hope that the Election Commission will officially confirm the result at the earliest", said the statement.

The US State Department, which had warned of "appropriate measures" if the vote was not free and fair, had called on Yameen to "respect the will of the people". He also said that Yameen would have no option but to concede defeat.

Few foreign media organizations were allowed into the country to cover the election.

But both the European Union and United States declined to send teams to monitor the voting, wary of appearing to condone them.

In February Yameen imposed a 45-day state of emergency, alarming the global community, in what was seen as an attempt by his opponents in parliament to impeach him.

The European Union and U.S. had earlier voiced concerns about the election, with both threatening to impose targeted sanctions if the democratic situation did not improve.

Despite the turmoil, voters flocked to the polls on Sunday, standing in long lines in rain and high temperatures to cast ballots.

More than a quarter of a million people were eligible to vote out of the island-nation's population of around 400,000.